


Falling Slowly

by Indiacaitlin



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-09-23
Packaged: 2017-12-23 09:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/924697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indiacaitlin/pseuds/Indiacaitlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the group struggle to keep everyone at the prison alive, Daryl and Carol begin to realise their feelings for each other, but when simple tasks such as searching for food endanger their lives, will they ever get the chance to confess how they feel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Daryl grunted as he pulled the crossbow bolt out of the back of the walker's head on the ground in front of him. He paused for a moment before using a foot to turn it over and looked down to study it's mangled face. Her hair, although dirty and bloody, indicated that she was bleach blonde, a city girl, Daryl thought as his eyes caught a glint of silver. He knelt down next to the walker, placing his crossbow on the ground and reached out to grab the chain around her neck.

“Hey Jackie Chan!” Daryl shouted, looking around to see where Glenn had got to.

“For the last time, Jackie Chan was Chinese, I'm Korean” came Glenn's reply as he gingerly closed the trunk of the minivan he was searching.

Daryl smiled to himself, “Just come here, would you? Got something you might be interested in”

Glenn jogged over to where Daryl was kneeling and looked at the necklace and then at Daryl, puzzled. “Never had you down for the jewellery type, man” Glenn chuckled, “But uhh, it'd suit you I think, could always take the earrings too, make it a matching set”.

Daryl flashed Glenn an exasperated look, “I thought you might wanna take it for little bo peep, might make up for the fact that she was pretty pissed at you this morning”

Glenn half smiled and knelt down to get a closer look at the necklace in Daryl's hand “Well I'm touched by the thought man but I have something else in mind, the minivan over there has a stash of chocolate in the trunk, I was thinking I'd give those to her. But you could take it anyway, see if any of the others want it”.

Daryl shrugged and reached around the walker's neck to undo the chain, “Might give it to the last samurai, see if she'll crack a smile” he said, picking up his crossbow and shoving the silver chain into his pocket.

Glenn laughed, “Nah, Michonne is definitely not a smiler, you would have to...” He was cut off by a shuffling sound accompanied by a low moaning coming from behind them, the two men exchanged an almost tired look and turned around to see three walkers making their way towards them.

“I was hoping we wouldn't run into any walkers on this run” Glenn sighed, unsheathing his knife while walking intently towards the largest of the three. Daryl spat on the ground, loaded up a bolt and shot cleanly into the forehead of another of the walkers, which crumpled to the ground while Glenn deftly stabbed his walker through the eye.

“Are these the only ones?” Daryl asked, loading up another bolt in time to kill the last of the three just before it reached Glenn.

“I think so” Glenn panted, looking around the parking lot just in case.

“You got everything we needed?” Daryl asked, bending down to pull out the bolts from the two walkers.

Glenn put his knife away and pulled off his backpack, “I think so” he said, unzipping the bag to check what he had, “I got plenty of baby formula for Judith, all the canned food they had and a couple bottles of water”.

Daryl nodded towards the dusty blue minivan in the corner of the parking lot, “Don't forget your apology” he said “and make it quick, they'll start worrying where we are soon”. By 'we', Daryl meant Carol, and he didn't care to imagine her pacing the prison grounds looking out for him. He knew she didn't like him going out but with Rick only just back from his long stay in crazy town him and Glenn were about the only ones capable of doing a run. When Glenn was done gathering the chocolate they headed over to the Hyundai. It wasn't a bad car, Daryl thought as he threw his bag on to the backseat and climbed in the passenger side, but he would have much preferred to have taken his motorcycle. Carol had said that him and Glenn should stick together though just incase another herd of walkers came through and Daryl supposed she was right, she always was.

“All right, we all set to go then?” Glenn asked, firing up the car.

“Yup, careful driving though chinaman, don't want you zigzagging all over the road again” Daryl said, smiling at Glenn.

“Hey” Glenn laughed, pulling out of the parking lot on to the road “Ko-re-an. Now I got a serious question to ask you Daryl”

Daryl turned to Glenn, confused, “Fire away” he said, concerned.

“Do you think Jackie Chan is still alive?” Glenn asked, completely seriously, facing the the road ahead.

Daryl laughed, “Hell if there's one son of a bitch that can survive this it's him. I'd like to think he's kicking some Chinese walker ass”.

“I hope you're right man” Glenn replied, “I really hope you're right.”


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two 

Carol paced the prison yard, watching the walkers outside the meshed fence try to push their way in. It was almost time for another cleanup, Rick wouldn't be happy if too many walkers built up outside the fences. The prison had proved itself to be a safe enough shelter so far, but since the people from Woodbury had joined the group more cell blocks needed to be cleared and supplies were low. Carol heard the sounds of footsteps and turned around to see Carl walking towards her, pistol in hand, with his father's oversized hat on his head.

“Hey Carol” Carl said, kicking a stone along the concrete floor.

“Oh hey Carl” Carol responded, stealing the hat and placing it on her own head “suits me huh?” she nudged Carl playfully with her elbow.

Carl grinned, “Yeah, but I think it looks better on me” he said, standing on tip toes to retrieve the hat from Carol's head.

Carol laughed, “You're probably right there you know” she folded her arms and looked once again at the walkers at the fence.

“I'm not sure how I feel about these Woodbury people” Carl sighed, “I don't know if we should trust them, and there are so many of them I'm scared we'll run out of food”.

Carol put her arm around the boy, “Listen”, she said, “most of them are women and children, and Glenn and Daryl are out looking for supplies, we'll find a way of coping. We always do”.

Though she wouldn't admit it to Carl, Carol was worried too. Her and Daryl had exchanged cross words earlier in the day about the run he was on with Glenn and he had left without saying goodbye. Secretly, Carol was afraid that she'd never see him again and their last words to each other would have been said in anger.

“You're worried about Daryl, aren't you?” Carl said, “you shouldn't be, he'll be fine”

Carol smiled, “I'm worried about both of them really, Carl. It's dangerous out there and it's never nice seeing anyone go out on a run.”

Carl picked up a stone and threw it at the wall of the prison, “I want to go on a run some day soon” he said.

The thought of Carl going outside the prison walls scared Carol, the world beyond was no place for a child, even if he could use a gun, and she was anxious to respond to Carl, who was becoming renowned for his mood swings. Luckily the sound of tyres saved her from having to reply, and the sight of the Hyundai appearing at the end of the road felt like the weight of the world falling off her shoulders.

He was back, he was alive, he was safe.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Carol and Carl ran to the prison gate and wrenched it open in time for the car to pass through safely. After closing it securely, Carol walked towards the car, her heart in her mouth. The drivers side door opened first and Glenn climbed out, greeted by a fierce embrace from Maggie. It was at times like these when Carol realised just how dangerous the world around them was, and how easy it was to lose the people she held most dear. She stopped a few feet away from the car, squinting, she tried to make out the shape of Daryl's body in the passenger seat, but the dust and dirt that had accumulated on the windscreen meant that she could hardly see anything inside the vehicle. Her heart dropped suddenly, maybe he didn't want to see her after what had happened this morning, she supposed she had been a little out of line, he was only trying to do his best for the good of the group, but she cared about him too much to not say anything. 

"Okay I got plenty of baby formula, a few cans of food and some water” Carol heard Glenn telling Maggie, “there really wasn't much there but we took everything we could, that place is cleaned out now though”.

Maggie took the bag from Glenn and snaked an arm around his waist, “I'm sure that's plenty for now”, she kissed him on the cheek “hopefully a few of the Woodbury people will come along for the next run, Tyreese too”.

Glen nodded and the couple made their way into the cell block, followed by Carl, leaving Carol alone.

“You know you could come out and say hey” she said, loud enough so she knew that he would hear her. She waited for a reply, nothing. “Okay then, well I'm heading in”.

She walked slowly back towards the cell block, her eyes prickling with tears. He was still mad at her for this morning, and there was nothing she could do about it except let him stew until he eventually decided to talk to her again. She had just placed a hand on the door when she heard the car door pop open and the sound of footsteps behind her.

“Carol” he said in a gruff voice. She turned around and saw him walking towards her, crossbow slung over his shoulder, boots dirty with blood from the walkers he must have encountered whilst on the run.

“Look”, Daryl bit his lip, “'bout this morning, I uh..”

Carol touched his arm, “It's okay Daryl, I shouldn't have been so up tight about everything, I was wrong.” she looked up at his face and met his eyes, “can we just forget it?”.

Daryl looked down and scuffed the floor with his boots, almost like a child, “Yeah” he mumbled, “yeah I'd like that”, he placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed lightly, “now lets go in and see which type of beans we'll get for dinner tonight, huh?”

Carol felt the rough callouses on his hand as Daryl pulled it away and opened the door, holding it ajar so that she had to duck under him to get in to the building. As she passed under his outstretched arm she breathed in the musky scent of him which always made her feel safe. He followed her down the corridor into the main area of the cell block where the rest of the group were scattered.

Rick walked towards Daryl as they entered, Judith in his arms. “Glenn tells me the store you were just at is cleared out, are you sure there's nothin' left?”.

Daryl shrugged, “We got everything in there we could use, looked like someone had been there before us. I'm sorry man”.

Rick's face fell. "Damn it”, he said through gritted teeth. “We need to find some more stores, with all these new people we're going to run out of food pretty darn quick. I say we take a group out to scout for supplies again in a day or two”.

Daryl nodded, "Whatever you say Sherrif".

Carol's body stiffened, the thought of him going out again was excruciating, but this time she wouldn't let him go without a goodbye.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four 

Daryl stared up through the fuzzy darkness at the bottom of the bunk above him, his mind too preoccupied to sleep. The thought of going out to look for more stores was really unappealing, and he was nervous about how Carol felt about it all. She had been pretty quiet over dinner, and Daryl had the feeling that she was avoiding eye contact with him.

He sighed and reached into his pocket to feel the links of the necklace he had picked up earlier that day. “Damn women” he grumbled to himself, turning the pendant of the necklace over in his fingers. Daryl had cleaned it up earlier in his cell, and toyed with the idea of giving it to Carol, but he was no good with all that soppy shit and didn't want to make an already awkward situation even worse. He pulled his hand out of his pocked and ran it through his hair, he needed a hair cut, maybe he'd ask Carol in the morning, give them some time to talk alone. Daryl swung his legs out of the bunk and picked up his crossbow, guessing he would rather go take a watch than lay there and think about too much all at once. He walked as quietly as he could past the other's cells, feeling a pang of jealousy as he glimpsed Glenn and Maggie asleep in each other's arms.

Opening the door, he noticed a dim light flickering in the window of one of the watch towers and made his way towards it. “Rick”, Daryl called softly, “Come down man, I'll take the rest of the night”.

He opened the door of the tower and began to climb the stairs, the metallic sound of his boots hitting the steps reverberating around him. “Rick?” he called again, opening the door at the top of the stairs.

“Not Rick” Daryl looked up and saw the silhouette of Carol against the window of the tower.

“Carol? Why aren't you sleepin'?” he asked, exasperated.

“Nightmares” she shrugged nonchalantly, “the usual you know, so... you come up here to make out?”.

Daryl blushed, thankful that the lack of light in the room hid his face, “Nah, I actually couldn't sleep either. Wasn't expectin' to see you up here”.

Carol chuckled, “I wasn't expecting a zombie apocalypse but hey, here we are”.

Daryl smiled and sat down on the floor next to her, “What you dream about then?” he asked, turning to face her.

“Same as always. It's uhm, a pretty nasty dream actually”, she replied, her voice cracking.

Daryl reached his hand out and placed it on her back, “Hey, don't cry. You don't have to tell me nothin' if you don't wanna”.

Carol leaned towards Daryl and rested her head on his shoulder, crying softly as she buried her head into the leather of his jacket. Daryl wasn't sure what to do to make her feel better, so he just rubbed her back and let her cry on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Carol looked up at him, “It's Ed” she said, almost whispering. “It's always him, every time”.

Daryl felt a flash of rage build up inside of him. "Now you know that asshole isn't around to hurt you no more” he said, pulling her closer. “He's gone, Carol. You're safe”.

Carol sniffed, “I know that, but the sick thing is sometimes I miss him. Is it even possible to miss someone you hated?” she broke down in a fresh flood of tears and buried her head in Daryl's jacket once more.

Daryl thought of Merle, about how much he had despised his brother, and yet how much it had killed him to see Merle become one of them. He took a deep breath, “Oh yeah, it's possible”.

Once again Daryl found himself thankful that it was dark in the tower, as he felt his eyes sting with tears.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five 

Carol was awoken by the sounds of voices in the yard below. Yawning, she sat up and stretched, judging by how warm it was she had slept in fairly late. She looked round to see Daryl snoring softly, arm outstretched towards her, she must have fallen asleep in his arms. She smiled and took a moment to drink in the sight of him; all signs of anger and frustration had virtually disappeared from his face, his breathing deep and relaxed, he looked almost like a child. Yet there was so much more to him behind those closed eyelids, and Carol hoped she had plenty of time to find out all the mysteries he held so close to his chest. She did not want to wake him but she couldn't resist tip-toeing over and planting a soft kiss on his forehead, her way of thanking him for being there last night. He stirred slightly, but quickly settled back into his sleep and Carol, slightly reluctantly, left the tower. “

Mornin' Carol” Hershel said as she entered the cell block, “want some?” he said through a mouthful of beans, offering the rest of the can to her.

Carol grabbed the can and sniffed the contents, it didn't smell very appetising, then again, cold beans never did. She grabbed a blunt fork from the table and piled it with the cold, slightly congealed contents of the can and took a mouthful.

As she chewed she noticed Hershel studying her, the look on his face suggested he had something he needed to talk about. “Everything okay?” she asked, swallowing the last of the beans. Hershel scratched his beard, Carol would have to trim that soon. “Hershel, what do you need to talk about?” she asked again.

“I know you don't want Daryl to go out on the next run”, he eventually replied, his watery blue eyes fixed on a spot on the floor in front of her.

Carol sighed, “I don't want anyone to go on the next run.” she said defiantly.

Hershel sighed, “We all noticed you last night, after Rick mentioned looking for new stores you practically stopped talking. Come on now Carol, this group needs to band together, now more than ever. Rick says we gotta find another store..”

Carol banged a fist on the table, “I am sick of everyone here following Rick's orders without question” she said quietly, but Hershel picked up on the acidity in her tone.

“Now Carol” he started, eyes fixed on hers, “Rick saved my life. Heck, he saved all of our lives at some point. Gave me more time with my girls, gave you more time with Daryl. Rick might not always be right but he sure as hell tries. You owe it to him to listen”.

Carol knew he was right, it wasn't Rick's fault that she felt this way about Daryl, every time he left the prison she was scared he wouldn't come back and with Sophia gone he was one of the only things keeping her going. She put her head in her hands, “I know” she said, “I just don't want to lose anyone else”.

Hershel reached over and took her hand in his, “Losing the ones we love hurts beyond measure” he said, comfortingly, “that's why they have to go and look for supplies, if they don't then all of us will be in danger”.

Carol placed her other hand on top of his, “Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry”.

“You know he worries about you too, don't you?” Hershel said, “Daryl. I seen the way he looks at you.”

Feeling like a giggling schoolgirl, Carol held back her smile, “Daryl worries about everyone.”.

Hershel chuckled, “You're right there, little ass kicker wont go without a thing while he's around”.

Carol smiled, thinking about what Daryl might be like with some little ass kickers of his own.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six 

“All right, we all set?” Rick said, putting a pistol into the holster he wore around his waist.

Michonne nodded, climbing into the truck bed, her sword glistening in the early morning light.

“So the plan is to keep going until we find something, anything, a mall or a garage or grocery store.” Glenn reminded them, throwing his bag into the back of the Hyundai.

Daryl turned to Carol. “We'll be back before you know it”, he said, trying to sound reassuring.

Carol smiled weakly and looked up at him, “I sure hope so”, she said, and Daryl suspected she was holding back tears.

“You ain't gotta worry about me, alright?” he said, moving forward to envelope her in his arms. He wished he could stay there, wished he could guarantee that he'd come home, but he just couldn't. None of them could. It was more likely than not that someone would get hurt, everything was dangerous, walkers and people.

“Promise me you wont try and be a hero?” came Carol's muffled voice from his chest.

Daryl rested his chin on top of her head, “Told you you ain't gotta worry. I'll be back”.

Carol looked up at him again and he met her gaze, “I know you will” she said, reaching up to place her hands on his face.

“Might even get you a little present if you're lucky” he smiled.

Carol laughed and punched his stomach playfully, “Hey, priorities now” she laughed.

They caught each others eyes and smiled bashfully.

“Hey Daryl!” Rick's shout broke their eye contact and Daryl turned around, “time to roll out, alright?”, Rick said, opening the door of the truck.

Daryl turned back around to face Carol and took her hand in his, “I'm gonna be back, alright? You keep an eye out around here now, and try and get some sleep” he bent down and kissed her on the cheek, stubble brushing her skin.

“I'll try”. She flung her arms around his neck and held him tight for a few seconds. “Alright. Go” she said, pushing him towards the truck where Rick was waiting.

Daryl climbed in to the truck next to Rick, not wanting to look back at Carol in case she was crying. Rick fired up the engine and pulled away, Glenn following behind, as soon as they were out of the prison gates, Daryl felt the anxiety build up inside him. This was going to be tough.

“I'm thinkin' there might be a grocery store about an hour up the road” Rick said, breaking the silence in the car. “We just gotta hope nobody has cleaned it out”.

Daryl nodded and wound down the window to let some fresh air into the truck, “We got much ammo?” he asked.

Rick ran a hand through his hair, “Not a lot at all, I keep thinking about going back to Woodbury to see what we can gather but I can't risk running in to the Governor again”.

Daryl snorted, “That asshole, second I see him I'll take out his other eye”. Rick chuckled, one of the first times Daryl had seen him smile in a long time.


	7. Chapter Seven

Rick slowed down as they pulled in to the parking lot of the Walmart. 

“I'm not holding up much hope for this place” he said, stopping the car as close to the doors as he could. “Almost guaranteed it's been cleaned out”. 

Daryl climbed out of the truck and looked around him, there was three other cars in the lot. All seemed to be abandoned. 

“I don't have a good feeling about this place”, Michonne said, jumping down from the truck bed and pulling her sword from it's sheath. 

Daryl snorted, “You never have a good feelin' about nothin'”, he said as he raised his crossbow and started to make his way over to the car nearest to them. It was worth searching, he thought. 

He opened the driver's side door and bent down to get a closer look at the inside, pretty clean, considering the circumstances. He leaned over and opened the glovebox, empty, he had suspected it might be. He then turned to look in the back and his eyes fell on a pink child's seat, he stood up and opened the back door to pull it out of the car. “Hey Rick”, he called, leaning over the seat, struggling to undo the straps. “Come help me get this damn thing out the car”   
Daryl heard the sound of Rick's footsteps coming towards the car, and felt him watching as he tried to get the seat out. After a few seconds of fighting, Daryl threw the straps down in frustration and wiped the sweat from his brow, “I ain't got a clue how to get that thing out of there”. 

Rick chuckled. “Move out the way, I got it”. 

Daryl took a step back and watched as Rick did something with the seatbelt and pulled the seat out of the car, he wanted to learn how to do it himself, just in case. 

“You think we might have use for that?” Daryl asked Rick as they walked back to the truck where the others were waiting. 

“Definitely” Rick said, putting the seat into the truck bed. “Thanks, Daryl.”

“Okay so I can't see anything around the back”, Glenn said, “No walkers, no people. Let's just get in there and see what we got inside”. 

Rick pulled out his pistol, “Alright, let's go”. He walked towards the entrance of the store, Tyreese, Glenn, Michonne following, with Daryl bringing up the rear. 

“Ready?” Rick said, cocking his pistol. He did not wait for an answer.


	8. Chapter 8

The doors of the store creaked eerily as they swung open. The normality of the store inside struck Daryl as strange. The aisles seemed orderly and tidy, with more stock than he had seen at any other store they had been to. 

It seemed that a few of the others had picked up on Daryl's feelings about the place. Rick slowly raised a finger and pressed it to his lips, nodding to the left, he crept over to a display of sunglasses and crouched down behind it. 

Daryl turned to the rest of the group and beckoned them with his fingers, “Come on” he whispered through gritted teeth.   
They followed him over to where Rick crouched, pistol at the ready. 

“Somethin' don't seem right here”, he said, “this place looks untouched”. 

“I say we grab what we can and run”, Glenn suggested, “doesn't look like anyone is here right now”. 

Rick rubbed his chin in thought. “No we can't do that, what if there are kids here?”.

Glenn sighed in frustration, “Rick we can't just pass up on all the stuff here. Think of how long we could go without a run if we cleared this place out”. 

“Rick's right”, Daryl said, “let's search this place and see if anyone's here. If not, we clear it out”. 

“And if someone is here?” Michonne said darkly. 

“Then we leave quietly”, Rick said, standing up. “I'm not losing anyone over supplies. We'll talk to them and see if they'll give us anything. If not, we go without any fuss”.

Tyreese stood up next to Rick, “All right, I'm in” he said, pulling a flashlight from his backpack.

Rick scratched his head in thought for a moment and then began to formulate a plan. “Ok. Daryl, Michonne. You take the right hand side of the store, check any stock rooms or anything there might be. Me, Glenn and Tyreese will check the left side, start from the middle and work our way out”. He paused and wiped a trickle of sweat from his brow, “Don't split up, try not to shoot off the guns if you come across any walkers. We'll meet back here when we're done”. 

Daryl stood up and checked that his crossbow was loaded. “Come on then” he said to Michonne. 

“Be careful” Rick said, as the group split in to two. 

Michonne walked in front, her flashlight illuminating the shelves as they snaked up and down the aisles of the store. Daryl could not believe how many tins of food were still on the shelves, it was almost like someone had locked the doors and was hoarding food. He hoped that there was nobody else here, no walkers, nothing. That it was just a fantastic stroke of luck which would bring him back to the prison, to Carol, with enough food to last for months. 

“So”, Michonne said as she prowled the aisles, “What are you thinking about this place?”. 

“Not sure”, Daryl replied as he looked down at the tiles of the store, “Think there's someone here?”

Michonne nodded, dreadlocks bouncing, “Definitely, they've been here a while but there's not many of them. I bet they're using stock from the back before they move on to the ones on the shelves”. 

“You might be right there”, Daryl said as they entered an aisle full of children's toys. He felt the hairs on the back of his arms prickle, and a sudden chill made him shiver. 

“I don't like this place one bit, feels like there are ghosts here” he said, looking around for any sign of movement. 

Michonne laughed, “You telling me you believe in ghosts?” she asked. 

“You tellin' me you believe in dead people walkin' around?” Daryl responded, sarcastically. 

Michonne chuckled again, “Touché. Hey look, there's a store room or something over there, let's go check it out”.

Daryl raised his crossbow and followed Michonne over to the large metal door. Michonne pressed an ear against it and listened for a moment, “I can't hear anything in there” she shrugged. 

Daryl reached for the door handle and pushed, it was unlocked. He crossed the threshold into the room cautiously, quickly scanning the room before beckoning for Michonne to come inside.


End file.
